Tuesday, Jul 08, 2008

Two Extremes at SLO Pride – Part 1

Download this episode (2 min)  
Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Christian, What is your attitude toward the gay community? Is it an attitude of fear and/or judgmentalism, as some would suggest? Do you stereotype the gay man or lesbian woman? In your mind do you assume that each gay or lesbian person is like this or like that?

I’m going to be honest. I personally have had tendencies of prejudice toward them. I do tend to be fearful of them. I also must admit that, in the past, I’ve had the “holier-than-thou” attitude (judgmentalism) with them too. I’ve looked at them as sexual deviants instead of sinners like I used to be.

If we take our eyes off of the Lord Jesus and His Cross, sad to say, it’s quite easy for us to embrace this attitude: “Their sin is worse than my own.”

Based on the sure Word of God, I am convinced that the homosexual lifestyle is indeed sin against God and those that are unrepentant to death will receive God’s just punishment in Hell for all eternity. However, based on the passage sited above, this is also true of the heterosexual “drunkards” who die in their sin, is it not?

God has mercifully given us passages like 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, where He tells us very plainly who will not “inherit the kingdom of God.” In the passage the Christian is reminded of who they were before God saved them – how they once lived. This passage also provides the necessary truth the lost person despritely needs to hear in order for them to understand God’s judgment upon them.

John MacArthur’s commentary says that it’s, “a catalog of sinners who are typical of the unsaved. Persons whose lives are totally characterized by such sins are not saved and therefore unrighteous, unjustified. They shall not inherit the kingdom of God, because they are not right with God. They are outside the kingdom, the sphere of salvation.”

He goes on to say that, “The catalog of sins in verses 9–10 is not exhaustive, but those sins represent all the major types of moral sin, the types of sin that have always characterized ungodly societies and that ought never to characterize the godly society of the redeemed.”

Take a look at the entire list in this passage: Fornicators, Idolaters, Adulterers, Effeminate & Homosexuals, Thieves, Covetous, Drunkards, Revilers, and Swindlers. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the homosexual lifestyle is sin in God’s eyes. As Christians we must love enough to express this truth that God has given us. But let’s not loose sight that God sees other lifestyles as sin as well – sins that are committed by heterosexual’s everyday. As Christians we must love enough to take this position as well with the heterosexual community.

A group of us went to SLO Pride (a gay festival). There we met some of the people who I’ve stereotyped in my mind. We also met some people who didn’t fit my stereotype. We met individuals who were “whacked out” in their sexual sin. But I also met some very nice people from the homosexual community as well.

So here is what I want to do. In this first audio blog, I’m posting one extreme. An extreme that you are probably familiar with. It’s less than two minutes long so it’s not that hard to sit through. This is the extreme that may make you fearful or may make you want to look down your nose at them. This encounter ended rather abruptly. Then in the next episode, I’m going to post another extreme. One that surprised me as well.

Bottom line, we cannot get caught up in judging one sin as worse than the any other sin – “there is none righteous,” says the Holy Spirit. We have all sinned and desperately need God’s mercy - the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Keep this in mind when you encounter a homosexual. Christian, reach out to them and gently help them see that even if they were not homosexual or lesbian, they are still sinners and on their way to Hell because God is just. Help them to see that it’s because God is good, holy, righteous, and just that he will punish sin.

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